Insert for locker door



p 2 970 H. A. SCHNARR 3,531,172

INSERT FOR LOCKER DOOR Filed July 25, 1968 Z4 8 1 16 28 f0 6 2?. F 3

INVENTOR.

' HOW/M 0 A. sc/mm/e BY mlaabxfiflflik United States Patent 3,531,172 INSERT FOR LOCKER DOOR Howard A. Schnarr, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, assignor to Massey-Ferguson Industries Limited, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a corporation of Ontario, Canada Filed July 23, 1968, Ser. No. 746,885 Claims priority, applicaltiggrl Canada, Oct. 4, 1967,

Int. Cl. A471, 95/02 US. Cl. 312320 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A locker doorpiece of resilient material is inserted in a cut-out of the front face panel of a double panel door. The doorpiece serves as a cover and a handle and provides an aperture for the padlock bracket attached at a door jamb and adapted to project through the rear face panel of the door.

Some types of storage lockers are equipped with doors having only one panel made of metal, whereas other lockers have double-panel doors consisting of a front face and a rear face. This invention is concerned only with lockers having doors with two panels, a front face and a rear face, which are spaced from each other and preferably made of metal. The front face panel has a cut-out near that vertical edge of the door which moves outwardly upon opening the door. A dish-shaped insert of resilient material which fits into said cut-out is seated therein so as to engage the rear face panel with the bottom of the dish-shaped insert.

A lock bracket which is firmly attached to the inside of a door jam'b projects through an aperture in the rear face panel and a matching aperture in the insert. Preferably the insert portion around the aperture is reinforced.

While the dish-shaped insert is fixed to the front face panel of the door on one side by fastening means like screws, bolts, rivets or the like, the opposite side is firmly held by the edge of the cut-out as a result of engagement between the edge of the cut-out and groove means near the outer end of the lateral sidewall of the dishshaped insert.

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple, practical, low-cost insert in a locker door which can be installed after the locker has been set up for use.

It is another object of the invention to provide a locker doorpiece of resilient material which is flexible enough to be snapped into a cut-out in the front face panel of a double panel door.

It is still another object of the invention to utilize an insert in a locker door as a handle, a base for in inscription plate or the like and as a shield for a padlock which is recessed so that neither the locking means nor the handle protrude beyond the front surface of the locker.

The invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a storage locker consisting of two compartments with one of the doors being ajar, showing a door insert therein as well as a jambcarried lock bracket;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the lock insert for locker doors with a portion of the front face panel of the door surrounding it;

FIG. 3 is a section along the line 33 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a section along the line 4-4 in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 1 each of two locker compartments has a double panel door 2 which is hingeably mounted on the main body 4 of the locker at 6.

At a suitable height a dish-shaped insert 8 is seated in a cut-out 10 (-FIG. 2) in the front face panel 12 of each door 2 and extends with its bottom portion 26 onto the rear face panel 13 (FIGS. 3 and 4).

This insert 8 is resilient and preferably made of plastic. FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 show how the insert is seated in the door. Its bottom portion 26 has a reinforced area 14 with an aperture 16 therein whose purpose will be described therebelow. Next to the reinforced area 14 there is a depending and inwardly bent edge portion 18 which, without protruding beyond the front surface of the locker, serves as a handle. On the left there are two fastening screws 20 in vertical arrangement which, in the embodiment shown, not only afiix the insert 8 to the front face panel 12 of the door 2 but also fix an inscription plate 22 or the like to the insert 8.

The fastening screws 20 firmly hold the insert 8 against the front face panel 12 near the edge of the cut-out 10 in said panel.

As most clearly shown in FIG. 3 the insert 8 has a lateral portion 24 which, upon installation of the insert into the door, abuttingly overlies the front face panel 12. The bottom portion 26 of the insert is adapted to abuttingly overlie the rear face panel 13.

From the bottom portion 26 of the dish-shaped insert 8 sidewalls 28 being substantially normal to the plane of the bottom portion 26 and the plane of the lateral portion 24 lead to a planar front face 30 of the insert which can best be-seen in FIG. 2.

The reinforced area 14 of the bottom portion 26 is apertured at 16 so as to allow a lock bracket 32 to project therethrough when the locker door is closed. Behind this aperture 16 in the bottom portion 26 of the insert there is, of course, a matching aperture 17 (FIG. 3) in the rear face panel 13 of the locker door 2. FIGS. 3 and 4 show the lock bracket 32 with its base portion 34 which is affixed to the door jamb 36. The front end of the lock bracket 32 protrudes from the aperture 17 in the rear face panel 13 and the matching aperture 16 in the reinforced portion 14 of the insert 8 upon closing of the door. The hasp of a padlock 38 (FIG. 1) can then be placed through an end opening 40 in the lock bracket 32 for the purpose of locking the door 2. The outer end of the lock bracket is flush with the front surface of the door when it is closed.

A particular advantage of the resilient locker insert is that it can be placed into the cut-out provided in the front face panel of a door after the locker has been set up for use. To facilitate its insertion into the cut-out 10 a groove 42 is provided in the outer edge of the planar front face 30, preferably opposite the location of the fastening means 20. Upon pushing the insert 8 into the cut-out 10, the groove 42 in the outer edge of the planar front face 30 snaps into the edge of the door cut-out 10 with the upper and the lower portions of the planar front face 30 of the insert 8 extending over and abutting against the upper and lower edges of the cut-out 10. Upon providing the groove 42 in that part of the planar front face 30 which is located opposite the fastening means 20, the snap-in action completes on one side the fixing attained on the other side by means of the screws, bolts or rivets 20'. As

a result, firm holding of the insert in the door cut-out is being accomplished on two opposite sides of the insert.

There is no danger of an unauthorized opening of the locker by force upon tearing out the insert 8. Since the lock bracket 32 projects through opening 17 in the rear face panel 13 of the double panel door 2, a padlock keeps the door just as securely locked with or without the resilient insert in place. Moreover, an attempt of cutting through the insert is futile because right behind the bottom portion 26 there is the metal of the rear face panel 13 of the locker door.

I claim:

1. In a locker having a door with a rear face panel and a front face panel in spaced arrangement from each other, a cut-out in said front face panel, a lock bracket fixed to said locker and an opening in said rear face panel allowing said lock bracket to extend therethrough upon closing of the locker door, the combination comprising: a door insert of resilient nonmetallic material, said insert being dish-shaped so as to fit into said cut-out in the front face panel, fastening means for attaching said insert to the front face panel and means defining an aperture, said aperture coinciding with the opening in the rear face panel and a depending and inwardly bent portion at said insert serving as a handle for opening the locker door.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said lock insert of resilient material has a planar front face extending over and abutting against the edges of the cutout in the front face panel of the locker door.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said lock insert of resilient material has a bottom portion abuttingly overlying the rear face panel of the locker door.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 3 wherein said bottom portion has a reinforced area surrounding said aperture adapted to accommodate said lock bracket upon closing of the locker door.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 2 wherein said door insert is made of plastic and has a lateral portion abuttingly overlying the front face panel, with said fastening means engaging said lateral portion so as to attach the insert firmly to the locker door.

6. The combination as claimed in claim 5 wherein said door insert has groove means in the outer edge of the planar front face, said groove means being adapted to snap into engagement with the edge of the cut-out in said front face panel, thus holding said insert firmly in place in cooperation with said fastening means.

7. The combination as claimed in claim 5 further comprising an inscription plate on said lateral portion, said inscription plate being held in place by said fastening means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,569,094 1/1926 Kurtzon 312- 20 2,842,420 7/1958 Hansen et a1 3l2320 2,946,640 7/1960 Sitlcr 312-320 3,098,686 7/1963 Benoit 312-320 3,122,402 2/1964 Bullock et a1 312-320 JAMES T. McCALL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

